" 'One of the biggest wake-up calls of my career was when I saw a record contract. I said, Wait - you sell it for $18.98 and I make 80 cents? And I have to pay you back the money you lent me to make it and then you own it? Who the f**k made that rule? Oh! The record labels made it because artists are dumb and they'll sign anything' "
(http://digg.com/d1oDEt)
Musician Trent Reznor on record companies. I kind of get a sick form of satisfaction out of seeing record companies suffer, because I'm pretty sure they have been ripping us off for years. Did anyone else notice that CDs started retailing from $15-20 and never really changed?
I'm glad I'm not the only person that this bothered.
New DVD movies have ended up costing a lot less than new music CDS, actually.
ReplyDeleteThis includes DVDs of movies that cost $100 million to make. Is there any music album that cost even one-eightieth of that to record?
That's a good point, too.
ReplyDeleteI know very little about movie financing, but I know that Kevin Smith's most recent film was not in the black, I believe, until DVD sales entered into the picture.
I think the point is that the costs of manufacture are virtually nil, once you have an assembly line set up.
Brand name drugs are similar-yes, there are heavy start up costs, but most companies spend as much on marketing as they do on R and D.
If all three industries (music, movies, and pharmaceuticals) spent half as much time focusing on QUALITY and VALUE as they do on marketing and advertising and other folderol, they wouldn't be in so much trouble.